Yellow rice and mince

My husband says colour is everything with food, that we taste with our eyes first. I think it’s true! Even when you listen to us talk about food before we taste it — ‘that looks good!’, ‘that looks yummy!’, ‘that does not look appetising!’, ‘that looks gross!’ We only dare to taste when it looks appealing, anything else requires convincing.

served
served

The plan for colour was yellow rice, minced beef — which would look brownish, and spots of green, which is where the mbaazi (pigeon peas) came in. As you can see, the mbaazi didn’t stay bright green as I had planned (-_-)

The aroma was in the rice…  

boiled water with star anise, turmeric, cooking oil and salt
boiled water with star anise, turmeric, cooking oil and salt

I boiled the rice water with star anise, added a lovely liquorice like aroma. Then added turmeric to colour it before adding the rice

onions for the mince
onions for the mince

The mince wasn’t going to be anything special, I cooked it in some onions then added paprika and the mbaazi to it.

Once the onions soften in the cooking oil I add water. I do the same with garlic. It helps to keep them from burning which preserves the nice flavours. When the meat is added to that water it absorbs the flavours nicely. Not a lot of water, just a little. I learned that from my mother. Before that I used to let the onions and garlic burn a little because I used to think that was what made it more flavourful (-_-) I know better now! Unless you are caramelising your onions, there is no reason to burn them.

add the mince
add the mince
wash the mbaazi so it's ready
wash the mbaazi so it’s ready, this is from an early harvest like green maize, it’s not dried yet. I like it better, it cooks faster for one (^_^)
once the mince is cooked add the mbaazi and paprika
once the mince is cooked add the mbaazi and paprika

See how nice that looks? The green on the brown? Imagine it on the yellow rice. Nice right? I didn’t think this through though. By the time I was done mixing in the paprika it had coloured the mbaazi too. Next time I’ll cook the mbaazi separately.

it was still yummy! Just not the look I was going for
it was still yummy! The aroma was lovely! Just not the look I was going for

Husband Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

 

About aika

Making, eating and sharing good food are a splendid way to start, brake and end a day! I post good eats on www.pendolamama.co.ke. Life is a feast, eat up!

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